Bladder.



No. 634,302. Patented Oct. 3, I899.

O. E. LUNGDEN.

BLADDER.

(Application filed Aug. 14, 1899.)

(No Model.)

CHARLES E. LONGDEN, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE SEAMLESSRUBBER COMPANY, I OF SAME PLACE.

BLADDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,302, dated October3, 1899.

and I do hereby declare the following, when I taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon,to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which saiddrawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a side view of a bladder constructed in accordance with myinvention; Fig. 2, a section on line a b of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a side viewof a bladder as heretofore constructed; Fig. 4, a section on the line 0d of Fig. 3.

This invention relates to an improvement in the inflatable portion or,as they are commonly called, bladders for foot-balls and otherinflatable balls. As generally constructed these bladders are formedfrom four or more sections, the adjacent edges of which are united bybinding-strips, and for the purpose of curing and packing two or more ofthe sections are folded inward; so that the bladder will lie flat; butwhen thus folded difficulty is experienced in curing the bladders, sothat some sections are more elastic than others, and in many cases thefolded sections are liable to crack at the crease.

In inflatable balls, and foot-balls particularly, it is of coursedesirable that the bladder should properly fill the ends of the leatherjacket or cover, and when the bladders are formed in four sections thesections do not increase in length, so that unless the bladder is madeas long or slightly longer than the jacket or cover the ball will nottake the desired shape.

The object of this invention is to form the bladder so that it may beevenly cured without folding either of the sections, to reduce thenumber of joints or seams, and thereby reduce the cost of manufacture,and produce a bladder which will increase in length as it is inflated;and it consists in the construction as hereinafter described, andparticularly recited in the claim.

1899. $erialN0-72'7,164. (Nomodeh) For a complete understanding of theinvention I have illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 a bladder as usuallyconstructed, and which consists of four sections A, B, C, and D, theadjacent edges of which are united by bindingstrips a. The sections C Dare folded inward between the sections A B, which are thereby allowed tolie flat, and it is this folding of the sections C D which renders itdifficult to properly cure them and which makes the bladder liable tosplit on the line on which the sections C Dare folded.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, my improved bladder is formedfrom two ellip-' tical sections E F, corresponding to each other in sizeand having their adjacent edges united by a binding-strip b in the usualmanner and the extreme ends reinforced by small caps d. In one edge theusual inflating-tube G is provided, which opens into' the bladder, andaround the tube where it enters the bladder I preferably provide areinforcing-disk H. In thus constructing the bladder from two piecesboth pieces may lie flat, and therefore be evenly cured, and thenecessity of creasing, and hence liability to crack, is avoided.Furthermore, it has been found in practice that a bladder formed fromtwo sections, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, will slightly increase inlength as it is inflated, whereas a bladder formed from four sections,as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, will not increase in length and, on thecontrary, is liable to decrease in length and so that the ends of thejacket into which the bladder is inserted will not be sufficientlyinfiatedQ Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A bladder for inflatable balls, formed from two elliptical sectionsunited at their edges, and provided with an in Hating-tube,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

' C. E. LONGDEN.

Witnesses:

FREDERIC C. EARLE, LILLIAN D. KELsEY.

